Inspiring Colleague Award
The Office of Teaching and Learning and Learning seeks nominations annually for an award to celebrate educational innovation and collegiality. This award recognizes an individual who has gone above and beyond in sharing ideas and supporting others in creating effective learning environments. The individual can be a faculty, staff, or graduate student.
Nominate Your Colleague
To submit a nomination, click the button below. You will be taken to a short form that will ask you to explain why the individual deserves the award in 2,000 characters or less. The nomination form will be active when we are accepting nominees for the current year's award. If you get a message that the survey is closed, check back later in the year.
Nominations can be made by any member of the NDSU community. Award recipients will be announced at our annual Teaching and Learning Conference and will receive a $100 NDSU Bookstore gift card.
Nominations will close on Friday, April 24, 2026.
Inspiring Colleague Award Recipients
2025 Award Nominees
- Nasih Alam, Wellness Center
- Olvia Altstad, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Emmanuel Baidhe, Department of AES Ag & Biosystems Engineering
- Justin Benna, School of Education
- Jessica Danielson, Department of Human Development & Family Sciences
- Marcel Roy B. Domalanta, Department of Coatings & Polymeric Materials
- Nancy Emerson, Department of Accounting & Information Systems
- Daniel Erichsen, Information Technology Services
- Milsha George, Department of AES Plant Pathology
- Nicole Hatzenbuhler, Nursing, Sanford Bismarck
- Tom Dean Isern, School of Humanities
- Cassie Keogh, Division of Performing Arts
- Megan Orr, Department of Statistics
- Cory Schlack, Office of Admission
- Matthew Smith, Department of Biological Sciences
- Justin Wageman, School of Education
- Yu Yao, Department of Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering
2024 Award Nominees
- Nasih Alam, English Department
- Jainab Banu, English Department
- Stephanie Erickson MSN, RN, CCRN, School of Nursing
- Sulaymon Eshkabilov, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
- Md Mahmudul Haque, English Department
- Elizabeth Labanno Harney, School of Education
- Cassie Keogh, School of Music
- Raymond March, Agribusiness and Applied Economics
- Micah McGowen, Information Technology Services
- Carrie Nelson, School of Nursing
- Lisa Richter, PharmD, BCPS, BCCCP, FASHP, College of Health and Human Sciences; School of Pharmacy
- Teresa Shume, School of Education
- Chanchai Tangpong, Management and Marketing
- Sathish Venkatachalem Ph.D., Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Kathryn Wissman, Psychology Department
2023 Award Nominees
- Lisa Arnold, Department of English
- Jainab Banu, Department of English
- Shashi Bhushan, ABEN, Career Advising Mentor NDSU
- Heidi Eukel, Department of Pharmacy Practice
- Jeanne Frenzel, PharmD, PhD, BCSCP, Department of Pharmacy Practice
- Nicole Hatzenbuhler MSN RN, School of Nursing Bismarck
- Kelly A. Rusch, Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
- Trish Strom BSN, M.Ed., RN, BC-NC, School of Nursing Fargo
2022 Award Nominees
This year the award name switched to the current Inspiring Colleague Award.
- Achintya N Bezbaruah; Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
- Heidi Eukel; Department of Pharmacy Practice
- Jill Johnson, MSN, RN; School of Nursing - Bismarck Campus
- Jessica McQueston; School of Education
- Trish Strom; School of Nursing
2021 Award Nominees
This year there were two awards given, one titled Innovation in HyFlex Teaching and one titled Inspiring Colleague Award. The nominees listed are for both awards.
- Beena Ajmera, School of Education
- Enrique Alvarez, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Kimberly Booth, Department of Biological Sciences
- Amitava Chatterjee, Department of Soil Science
- Sajad Ebrahimi, Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute
- Rasha Hendawi, Department of Computer Science
- Ben Laabs, Department of Geosciences
- Stanley Ng, Student
- Paul Omernik, Department of Physics
- Mary Pearson, College of Engineering
- Fred Riggins, Department of Accounting & Information Systems
- Jessie Rock, Department of Geosciences
- Ellen Schwarz, Student
- Lauren Singelmann, Student
- Brad Strand, Department of Health, Nutrition, & Exercise Science
- Mark Strand, Department of Pharmacy Practice
- Ryan Striker, Student Electrical & Computer Engineering
- Laura Thomas, Department of Psychology
- Cheryl Wachenheim, Department of AES Agribusiness & Applied Economics
- Nate Wood, School of Education